Vegetarianism Books

This is an excellent book! FINALLY a book that tells all that is important with raising vegetarian children! THANK YOU!

I really enjoy this book. Wonderful resource for a vegetarian family. Good recipes. Easy to read for a busy family. Plus the cover is pretty! LOL

Heather mama of 5

We a wanted nutritional help-mate for raising our vegetarian baby. Despite the title, this is a strictly vegan (no dairy, eggs, honey, etc...) bible that suggests a baby begin eating a soy-filled diet at 9 months, and processed soy-foods such as soy yogurt as early as 7 months! The book is preachy and filled with less than helpful tidbits - such as suggesting your child could develop diseases like Crohns if he/she eats dairy.

Granted, I don't have children (yet) but I am a picky eater. This book is wonderful for making simple and yummy recipes. I also really like the fact that each recipe includes each nutrient your getting and how much. Below the recipe gives you calories, carbs, fiber, etc. This book is an easy read and very informative, for the new or old vegetarian/vegan person.

This is really wonderfull book for all caring parents and a really helpfull guide to rising a compasonate, responsible and happy little people from their birth on, as well as perfect gift and reading for all people who are involved with children, no metter if they are vegetatian or not.
If you are vegan or vegetarian parents (or just think about becoming one) this book will also give you valuable advices on how to manage (respectfully) with realatives and friends who are not vegetarians/vegans.

This book is my favorite on this subject!

This is a comprehensive overview of the issues that a person who is considering living a Vegan lifestyle must think about. The information is not presented through the use of scare tactics but with facts and philosophical debates and queries.The Complete Idiot's Guide to Vegan Living (The Complete Idiot's Guide)

I was vegetarian for 3 months and woke one morning with an epiphany- I should go vegan. I researched many issues online, such as the AR reasons to go completely vegan and dietary needs. This book filled in the gaps.
I disagree with the reviewer who mentioned that this book should list specific ethical reasons for veganism. Most people transitioning, aside from the "Skinny Bitch" phenomenon, are doing so because they know the horrors of factory farms. There is a small discussion on wool, but I felt even that was superfluous. I also disagree with the notion of the tone being haughty. This book is not about persuasion, but simply an instruction manual of sorts. There is nothing wrong with it seeming authoritarian when the "complete idiot" is looking for a firm resource.
There are some questionable chapters, as previously mentioned, but the value of the other sections out weighs the misinformation. The authors probably believe these things in their hearts, and it is up to the reader to decide whether or not to vaccinate or eat raw or what have you. I have found many vegan and vegetarian books to have strange ideas or "facts" that weren't cited, which is one reason why I went vege only 2 years ago. The authors have listed other sources, so the reader can research and get straight facts or make up their minds.
I found this book to be excellent. I've cooked several of the recipes, which were delicious and easy enough for a so-so cook to create. I often refer back to the guide, even a year later. If you're even considering living vegan this book is invaluable.

Overall, this book is a pretty good beginning resource for the new vegan, or for those like I am, in the process of experimenting with and transitioning to veganism. It covers common types of vegan staples (such as tofu, tempeh, soy cheeses, milk substitutes, and legumes), hidden animal ingredients to look for (such as carmine red and "natural flavorings"), good ideas for all of the daily meals, non-food-related vegan issues (such as wardrobe, household cleaners, and candles), rebuttals of common myths about veganism, the myriad of health benefits associated with a vegan diet, how to handle eating out, and how to cope with the non-vegans in one's midst. And the book doesn't seem really preachy, holier than thou, or guilt-tripping. The authors stress that such a big sea change in both diet and lifestyle can't happen overnight, and should take place at one's own pace. It's also great how they acknowledge that it's probably impossible to be 100% vegan, no matter how seriously one takes the commitment. There will probably still be some foods, clothing, and household products with unknown non-vegan ingredients that slip through the cracks. The most important thing is to do the best one can.

As wonderful of a resource as the book otherwise is, though, I wished there had been a chapter covering the ethical reasons behind going vegan, not just the health benefits. Granted, the issue of factory farming was covered in depth in 'The Idiot's Guide to Vegetarianism' and they might not wanted to have significant overlap between these two similar books in the series, but it can never hurt to repeat and reword such important information, particularly since it seems to be the main reason most people go vegan. And while they did say that higher prices mean the food is higher quality (one always does get what one pays for), buying only or mostly organic isn't always an automatic guarantor of getting the best food available. Not everyone can afford the grocery bills that go along with buying the more expensive organic versions of normal foods, and there isn't always a huge difference between organic and regular. A number of the recipes (and they are great recipes) thus call for ingredients that are going to be rather expensive and/or hard (if not downright impossible, depending upon where one lives) to find. In spite of what the ultra-health-conscious crowd might say, I really don't think it's going to be jeopardizing my health if I use white flour and wheat grains instead of making a total switch to whole grains only. One can easily be a successful vegan without having a pantry and fridge stocked full of organic foods and hard-to-find products like oat flour and amaranth.

My other major issue with the book was the anti-vaccination section in the chapter on raising vegan kids and having a healthy vegan pregnancy. I kind of think that saving a life takes precedence over all else, even if it means having to violate one's ordinary beliefs and lifestyle. Better a baby get non-vegan vaccines and thus be able to live a full healthy life as a vegan than be at risk for being killed, maimed, or disabled by a scary disease like measles, polio, rubella, whooping cough, or diphtheria. A lot of the "information" in this section was just plain false, like claiming that vaccines cause autism (that ridiculous claim has been debunked by all of the reputable medical and scientific sources), that vaccines cause more harm than good and aren't usually effective (was this section written by the anti-vaccine radicals at Mothering magazine or something?!), that there are a lot of bad side effects (not mentioning that that's only true in a small minority of cases!), and that some vaccines contain mercury (only the flu vaccine still contains mercury, and only trace amounts). Reading blatantly false propaganda like this really raises my blood pressure, and it had no place in an otherwise very sound and researched book!

In spite of some questionable portions, I would recommend the book to someone who's just become a vegan or who is interested in becoming one, but only to be used as a supplement with other vegan-related books that cover some of these issues in more depth.

`The Complete Idiot's Guide to Vegan Living' by Beverly Lynn Bennett and Ray Sammartano, `Vegan Freak' by Bob Torres and Jenna Torres, and `Vegan Planet' by Robin Robertson are three books my godson purchases, believing they were oriented primarily toward what most of us would consider a vegetarian diet adopted for simple health reasons. The primary objective of this review is to warn those who may be interested in these books for the same purpose. And, to make a strong distinction between the first two and the third.
The vegan lifestyle, at its heart, is far more than a dietary regimen. It is a combination of a system of spiritual values, culinary choices for health, and economic values allied with `green' doctrines of helping to preserve resources. Surprisingly, the first is by far the most important of these three, especially to those like the authors of the `Vegan Freak' book. One need read only a few pages of this book to realize veganism may in some senses be considered a Hindu sect, as it shares many of the same values of this religion, including many approaches to animal products which are as extremely anti-scientific as the rejection of some scientific theories by those who espouse creationism. As someone who has some reasonably sound background in Christian and Jewish doctrines, I can say with some certainty that vegan values are NOT shared by either Christian, Jewish, or Muslim value systems. In fact, the Judeo-Christian scriptures are often cited as justifications for using animal products. I will also venture the thought that the vegan doctrines are not consistent with secular ethical theory. By the definition assumed by every ethical value system, including those based on Judaism and Christianity, moral principles are those principals related specifically to behavior toward other humans. Thus, the vegan apologists are truly stretching the meaning of `ethical' or `moral' in order to add cachet to their preaching, which it does not deserve. That doesn't mean these values are baseless. It just means they need some justification which is independent of moral theories.
Now that is not to say many vegan values are not shared by the non-vegan population at large. Most civilized people, and even cultures which may be considered pre-civilized savages, place a value on `humane' treatment of animals. Thus, we have dedicated a fair amount of resources to SPCA organizations and other animal rescue organizations. It is also due more to ignorance than to inhumanity that we indulge in animal products which are raised in an inhumane manner. And, the rationale that these animals would never have lived if it were not for our raising them specifically for food is scant excuse.
As sound as the basic vegan value system is, to some peoples' minds, it seems to cross some line from humane principles to surprising extremes when it raises its ban against literally every animal product, no matter how remotely removed from cruel commercial animal husbandry. Two of the most extreme examples are bans against vaccines because they are incubated in eggs and many beers and wines, because they are clarified using animal products. Less extreme, but similarly questionable are the prohibitions against milk and eggs, especially if one makes the effort to purchase products raised according to humane husbandry techniques. Here, one encounters many of the health concerns of vegans, and for many people, milk and eggs have health problems. But not for everyone. And, eggs and milk products are the basis of some of the most nutritious and delicious food products.
`Vegan Freaks', as one may assume from the title, is the most extremely doctrinaire of the three books. As with the `freaks' of the 60's and later, they revel in their differentness, making that a fourth leg of their vegan lifestyle. `...Vegan Living' is less strident, but, it is no less doctrinally `pure'. It is somewhat easier to read, as it does not have the attitude of poking a stick in the eyes of non-vegans. Both are excellent starting points and both have very good bibliographies for obtaining additional information. But, neither contains any major sections on recipes! And this is where a purchaser may be most surprised, believing that these are `cookbooks'.
`Vegan Planet' is substantially different, as it is a cookbook from start to finish. In fact, it is not even doctrinally pure vegan, as it joyfully includes bread recipes which use yeast! As I write this, I realize that it has been a very long time since I took high school biology, and I'm no longer sure whether yeasts are related to the animal protozoans or the `vegetable' fungi. Except for this somewhat gray area, the book is otherwise true vegan, except that it never leaves the kitchen in order to climb on its soapbox and preach its gospel of avoiding animal products in every form.
In the end, if you have health concerns which bring you to the vegan diet, `Vegan Planet' is certainly the book you want. It will give you hundreds of recipes which simulate dishes traditionally cooked with milk, plus lots of great recipes for the staple vegan protein replacements such as beans, pulses, and grains. The other two books may only be of value if you are interested in the vegan value system. And, although these books mention the raw `cooking' style, neither deals with it in any depth. For that, I suggest `RAW, The UnCook Book' by Juliano.

As a vegetarian going vegan, the table of contents promised to answer a lot of my questions, such as will I be able to keep my weight and what is a good vegan diet for physical excercise.
To my disappointment, many of the headlines covered only chit-chatty chapters on the subjects, revealing the authors' lack of authority on the basic nutrition.
What's even worse is, I found the general tone quite self rightious, which in my oppinion is a very poor way of advocating vegan living.

I received the book in plenty of time for Christmas and it was in top notch condition. I have no complaints.

Thank you for your prompt delivery of my order. I'm eager to start cooking vegetarian meals for my family, and this book is just what I need.

Though included in this book were recipies for many, many differeny vegetables, none were very creative or inspiring. Just basic stuff.

As recent arrivals in the vegetarian world, we are very pleased with this informative and well-written book.
We look forward to many healthy meals, without the gnawing feeling that some animal was killed to feed our carnivore tastes.
Well done, and thanks.

i just started my vegetarian venture so this is a cookbook i picked up. the book gives really good side tips about food that are not common knowledge. i have tried a few of the recipes and they turned out fabulous. so no damage there. the only down side is there are absolutely no pictures of any of the recipes. so if your ok with cooking blindly then this is one for you.

This book has many good recipes and although they are for vegans, any carnivore can add meat or other other condiments and still have a very healthy meal. Good resource.

If only there were pictures, this book would be perfect. For vegans who are concerned about nutrition, but can't count on grains, this book is an essential. The introduction provides necessary information as well as personal context that helps to make cooking in this style feel less daunting. The collection of recipes include a good variety of flavors across all meals and snacks. Particularly appealing were the number of offerings that did not require hours spent prepping in the kitchen. There are a number of recipes that do require that you suspend judgement on the possible outcome and just try them, but you may just be pleasantly surprized - who knew squash was a dessert food?

Although I'm not ever going to be a vegetarian, I find lots of useful recipes in vegan cookbooks. A co-worker and I shared this library book today and I found so many useful ideas and taste combos I'm ordering it for my personal library! The addition of a 1/4 cup of shredded poultry breast meat to most main-dish recipes will make many of these recipes useful for me. Omit the salt and replace the soy-based ingredients with dairy and I'm good to go. That's easy! Most folks with health concerns are used to these kinds of simple replacements. Negatives: No effort is made to avoid anti-thyroid foods (soy and tapioca flour), but most gluten-free cookbooks ignore that health risk. Although the author explores sugar alternatives, including agave nectar, she omits stevia, which is a serious omission.

This is the first cookbook that is gluten-free that I have loved every recipe I have made. The other cookbooks I have tried my family has only enjoyed about half of the recipes. If you have food intolerances or not I would highly recommend this cookbook. I have been searching and cooking ever since my kids and I found out we should not be eating gluten, eggs and dairy. I have felt like I was spending so much time cooking with just so so results. I am pleased to have a cookbook that the when I take the time to cook will result in a fabulous meal.

This is one of my most favorite cookbooks! The recipes are just delicious. The ingredients used are all natural, whole food type ingredients.

Though we are not vegan, I feel that feeding my family vegan meals is part of a healthy diet. Both of my sons were diagnosed with ADHD about 2 years ago so I put our family on a (healthy) GF /CF diet. The Gluten-Free Vegan is a perfect book for anyone wanting to eat a healthy GF / CF diet.

Our family's favorite recipes are: the Antioxidant Chili, Kale with Peanut Sauce, Mexican Quinoa Salad, Curried Apple and Cauliflower Soup, Super Antioxidant Salad, Zippity Do Da Coleslaw, No-Meat Meatballs, Pumpkin Scones, and the Apple Pie Bars! The author also gives a short ingredient guide in the beginning. Very Helpful.

Great Book! Great Buy!

I think the book is good as a stepping stone resource. Personally I prefer her book Vegetarian Cooking for Dummies. It has a bunch of really delicious recipes. I've always hated beans but the recipes she's included with beans are delicious. The recipes she's included are pretty much fool proof and I've liked almost all of the ones in the book. This being vegetarian for dummies repeats a lot information in the other book and expands on a couple of other topics. I found the other book more helpful in a practical sense. Check it out.

Wonderful explanations, definitions etc. All you could ever ask for in a book! Thanks to this book I am so much more educated on being vegetarian!

It is freggin hard to be a vegetarian in a meat eating world that is for sure. It is a good read, but you have got to be motivated to go meatless. I have not gotten there yet.

I'm extremely impressed with the amount of information that his book contains and it's clear cut, and interesting layout. Being Vegetarian for Dummies, is chocked full of nutritional information, as well as common myths. What I found most helpful about this book was its real world approach to being a vegetarian. I've read many books on the topic, but this book really seems to take into account the fact that as a vegetarian you will have to interact outside the confines of your own kitchen. It gives suggestions on how to support your vegetarian lifestyle while on vacation, in office settings, while over someone else's home. The book gives multiple options for those who follow either an ovo-lacto or vegan lifestyle. I highly recommend this book for those interested in learning more about being a vegetarian, but I do suggest you look at multiple sources, there are other books that focus more on the importance of individual vitamins and minerals, and their optimal food source.

This book follows in the same tradition as the other Dummies books. The book covers basics about being vegetarian and what you need to watch out for if becoming purely vegan. However, the author preaches to the reader, in essence saying "what has taken you so long, dummy, to become a vegetarian? Don't you know it's the right thing to do?" I have also read another book called "Becoming Vegetarian" (original version; the authors now have a newer version available) by Vesanto Melina, et al. I thought the information was presented in a very organized fashion without any preaching or finger-pointing. I would highly recommend the Melina book over Dummies.

Vegetarian Suppers from Deborah Madison's Kitchen

A beautiful and useful book filled with unique and delicious meal ideas. If you're cooking vegetarian and tired of the same old dishes, try this. My favorite gifts lately have been either this book or food items made from this book.

This is a wonderful book. Simple instructions and great results. Even my meatloving husband likes the recipes!!!

Great book. Recipes are simple directions are explicit. Each supper gives ideas of what wines accompany each dinner. Each recipe will tell you vegan options. It's been great for me transitioning into the vegetarian world. My children have been enjoying the food.

I own several of D. Madison's books and have gotten to know her cooking as reliably good, tasty, and easy to make. In fact, I have liked many recipes so much, that I did not hesitate to expand my collection of vegetarian cookbooks by acquiring this volume.

I am sad to say that the recipes in this book do not live up to Madison's reputation.

Since I am an avid cook who tries up to four new recipes every day (usually lunch, dinner, a side dish, and a dessert or breakfast), I have made it a habit to grade recipes so that I can easily access whether making them again is worth it or not. Grades, of course, go from A to F with recipes in this book averaging a rather sorry C-

All recipes thus far have been easy to make while drawing on ingredients that are either staples in most households or easily found at a local food market, but the vast majority of dishes I have tried from this book have failed to come together into a delicious composition. Instead, I (and my family) find ourselves eating them simply because effort went into their creation and because we don't believe in wasting food. More often than not, we have failed to even slightly enjoy dishes from this book. Unfortunately, I have made at least one dish that went straight into the compost pile - it was simply inedible. The mere memory makes me wince.

To make matters worse, the binding of this book seems to be reflective of it's recipes - it is of rather poor quality. After my first use, the glue along the spine holding the pages in place simply failed. I now own a collection of loose pages. Admittedly, I live in a fairly humid climate but still, other books survive just fine.

Overall, this book is on the low end of the scale for Deborah Madison's efforts in vegetarian cooking. I'd advise you to skip it and either purchase one of her other books or go straight to Carol Gelles' 1000 Vegetarian Recipes - which is infinitely better.

Yeah, my experience was more like Annabel Lee's than Eve's. I've made recipes from this book that were good but I've made more that felt like a lot of effort with little return.

On the other hand, I love that Madison suggests wine pairings for the dishes. I don't always have a glass, but I want to complement my meal when I do. I hope Madison includes this feature in all her future publications.

I am a fan of Deborah Madison but recommend Vegetarian Cooking, Local Flavors, or even Vegetable Soups over this title.

Also, the binding quality on my copy is terrible. I rarely use the book but chunks of pages have fallen out. Perhaps? this problem has since been addressed by the printer, but buyer beware.

There are two chefs who taught me how to cook by virtue of publishing the books that I learned from. The first is Madhur Jaffrey (World of the East Vegetarian Cooking--an outstanding, comprehensive book of recipes, methods, ingredients and their substitutions for beginners with a knack for flavors and the will to give it a try). The next is Eric Tucker, Head Chef of Millennium Restaurant in San Francisco (best restaurant I've ever had the pleasure of dining in) and author of two Millennium books including The Artful Vegan.

I have both of Eric Tucker's books (Artful, and The Millennium Cookbook), and I reference them both frequently, whether I want to put on a pull-out-all-the-stops fabulous dinner party or just want a little inspiration for interesting flavor combinations for tonight's dinner.


Complicated? Doesn't have to be:

First thing you'll want to know about these books is that other reviewers are right that these are not meant for whipping up quick meals at the end of a long day. That said, I have on countless occasions pulled out Eric's books for inspiration for a quick something-or-other to do with, say, butternut squash. Say I've baked a butternut squash ahead of time and have it sitting in the fridge waiting for me to do something with it at the end of one of these hard days. A quick flip to the index of Artful for "squash, butternut" sends me to pp. 130-131, where I see the interesting combination of garlic, lemons, tahini, onion, tomato, and mint (plus some other things that I don't feel like putting in). I decide to combine those ingreds with some nice wild mushrooms I have in the fridge, a little minced serrano chile, and a smidge of raw sugar melted and poured over the squash, and I come up with a darned yummy and easy meal.

The thing to remember is that cookbooks are suggestions, nothing more. They are launching pads. With The Artful Vegan, what you've got is a series of very interesting flavor combinations that should make you feel like a kid in the world's biggest sandbox--play Play PLAY with the flavors, play with the textures, use the bits that sound good to you, combine them with other bits that pique your curiosity, and learn from it. Some of your "experiments" might well suck--that's OK. A bunch of them will be exquisite. Artful gives you a very comprehensive bunch of ideas that take you--well, it definitely took me--to places I would not have thought to go on my own. Now I do think it, and this is why I say Eric Tucker is one of the chefs who taught me to cook by writing this excellent book.


Well, unless you want it to be complicated:

Using the recipes not as suggestions but as verbatim instructions will also have you singing with glee. This is where you should set aside a day of preparation ahead of time and then another day to do the cooking and assembling and serving. Really--plan for a Sunday eve meal that you start on Saturday morning (preferably with a visit to the local farmers' market). This is why I (and other reviewers) say the recipes are time-consuming. But if you love the subtle arts of cookery and fancy yourself brave enough to try new techniques and flavor/texture combinations, you are going to love this book, and you are going to have more fun in the kitchen and be more impressed with what you can make than ever before.


Ingredients and equipment:

It also helps immensely to live in a great place like the San Francisco Bay Area where access to all things gastronomic are readily available. Between the wide variety of our farmers' markets, international groceries, organic health food stores, and the great outdoors, any outstanding ingredients list is pretty well covered in the Bay Area. If you live in an area where there's not as much selection, you'll need to be creative about substitution ingredients. Fortunately, Eric's books are good about telling you what other (perhaps less "exotic") ingredients would work well, what pieces you could leave out of the recipe and still have something stellar, and so forth.

You don't need a lot of specialized kitchen equipment to make these recipes. One assumes a blender and/or food processor and a basic set of quality knives and cookware. But you don't need all those stupid tchotchkes that have one use only, are impossible to clean and care for, and cost you a month's salary. Exquisite cooking is not defined by the fussiness of one's gadgets. (In my experience, reliance on fussy gadgetry is inversely related to cooking skill).


Oh, those gorgeous photos!:

One last thing: not every recipe in this book has a photo of the finished dish, but many do. The photos are works of art in and of themselves--the book is a visual feast as well as a collection of ideas for your own gustatory feast. Plus, with instructions that can seem at first to be very complicated, it's helpful to look at the photo and say "Oh, that's what he means by that!"

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To sum up:

1) The other reviewers are right that these recipes can be very time-consuming and complicated. Sometimes you want that--satisfies the inner chef-artiste in all of us;

2) The recipes are easily adaptable to be a lot less time-consuming and complicated, and Eric Tucker provides a lot of guidance on how to adapt the recipes;

3) You don't need to be an expert with a bunch of ridiculously complicated kitchen equipment to make the food in this book. You just need a bit of an experimental attitude, good solid basic kitchen equipment, and the willingness to have fun with new flavors, textures, ingredients, and ideas;

4) This shouldn't, however, be your first cookbook. You will likely enjoy the book most if you already have some experience fiddling around in the kitchen and are familiar with the basic terminology ("blanching" almonds, for example. Not too complicated--and there's a Basics section, a Techniques section, and a Glossary section in the back to help you with this stuff);

5) The Artful Vegan, along w/ Eric's earlier The Millennium Cookbook, took my cooking to a new level. It's doable, it's absolutely worth doing, and it's a heck of a lot of fun!

¡Buen provecho!

This is the best vegetarian/vegan cookbook ever. I am a collector of cookbooks and it is always great to find one with new creative recipes and this one surpassed my expectations. I would not consider this book for beginner cooks the recipes are lengthy, not 30 minute meals. It also has in quite a few recipes hard to find or expensive ingredients. Although, if you are a creative cook or live near quality stores it shouldn't be too big of problem. When I bought this book, I bought another at the same time for my sister.

Great inspiration in the recipes, but many of them have ingredients you'll have to work hard to find, or have more complicated processes involved (like smoking something) that simply make this book too difficult for the regular home cook. I got it as a gift and started looking through it excited to make some of the dishes, but then when I got to reading the ingredients in detail I started giving up and turning the next one. And then the next one, and the one after that. Halfway through I think I got maybe 2 or 3 things I'd be able to do without spending a fortune just to make one meal. We aren't in the restaurant business, the authors jobs should be to set up a recipe to be made at home. Even in the intro they say that they don't typically even write these things down, but just wing it through inspiration. From this it doesn't surprise me that some people say that some recipes just don't work.

This is one of the most expensive cookbooks I have (and I also have Millenium). I love cooking and will do whatever it takes to make great dishes. However, when the recipes don't turn out, it's not worth my time or effort. I have found this to be the case with Artful. Two recipes completely did not work, even though I followed the directions exactly.

I will try a few more and write an update if I come across some decent recipes, but I can't help but wonder if these were even tested.

This is the book that answers all those redundant questions us vegans have to endure constantly! "So what do you eat? Don't you miss meat or cheeseburgers?" The general public has no idea how much money, effort and time THEY actually spend eating meat/dairy foods and/or how actually redundant THEIR diets really are. Not to mention the detriment to the health of not only their bodies, but our enviornment! I don't want to soap box here, but I see these same people make food such an occasion in every sence, but instead of shopping the farmers markets, hunting down the most exotic and freshest of produce... or hitting your local wholefoods market to experience a more fresh approach to groceries, I see these same people eating at every gas station, 7-11 or some curious looking stranger at a food cart! Either know or get passionate about knowing, it's going in your mouth, in your bloodstream and through every vital organ, intestine and exit pathway! Shouln't it be of the highest quality???

This book opens with a clear, concise explanation in layman's terms of gluten intolerance and celiac disease and anticipates your next question by providing reference lists of foods that contain gluten followed by possible substitutes. Particularly handy for shoppers is the "labeling terms" list; a useful tool that identifies other terms in an ingredient list that translate to gluten content. As for the recipes themselves, you'll find a decent variety including Tex-Mex, Asian, Mediterranean and even a few East Indian dishes, in appetizers, entrees and desserts. The recipes are clearly written, simple to follow and the results are tasty. I particularly appreciate the bread section. In a home where sandwiches were popular and baguettes were expected to accompany salads and soups, a good tasting bread that does not come crumbling from a frozen food section is important. Keep an eye out too, for the "Cook's Tip" notations - they provide useful info that applies beyond a specific recipe. One final note - while this is a great book for the gluten-challenged vegetarian, if you also have egg, nut or lactose allergies, there are other books that use less of those ingredients and so require less adaptation to the recipes.

This is an amazing cookbook...I have never eaten this well and enjoyed it so much...I now cook and extras are frozen so I can share them with others. The dishes are so enjoyable they are my mainstay now. I own a verity of cookbooks and this is clearly the best. Sorry I am so efusive but you can't miss this one.

This book is so wonderful, I gave away mine and had to buy another one. It has great ideas. It is for everyone who needs a gluten free diet and other who just want something different!!

It is hard to cook for a child that has a gluten/dairy and meat free diet but this book gave me some ideas. Although some of the recipes call for dairy, I substitute dairy free items. I would recommend this book to anyone on this special diet.

I have only recently discovered Donna Klein's books, and was very excited when I found that after writing Vegan Italiano and Mediterranean Vegan cookbooks that she wrote a book called "The Gluten-Free Vegetarian Kitchen." After browsing my new copy of this book, I was pleased, but found that my expectations or hopes for what this book could be had not entirely been met. First, the good stuff. Donna Klein's recipes are simple, but seem flavorful. They call for seasonal, fresh, delicious ingredients that are readily available to almost anyone and will not break the bank. Donna Klein cooks the way many of us who are gluten free and vegetarian live, which is refreshing, and I would say of all the gluten free cookbooks in print today, she has the best collection of savory recipes that actually sound both tasty and delicious. Most gluten free cookbooks have a wide and sophisticated range of gluten free baked goods and then considerably more basic meal type recipes. I've long been impressed with Bette Hagman's innovative use of various gluten free flours to create the absolute best gluten free bread textures and flavors, but am not so impressed with her savory dishes, which are often basic and not very appetizing. In contrast, Donna Klein really does have an excellent collection of (naturally) gluten free main dishes, but her selection of bread and pizza recipes, as well as sweets, is surprisingly limited. I was also disappointed by her rather elementary usage of gluten free flours- many recipes simply rely on rice flour, while others incorporate potato starch or tapioca starch- but gluten free cookbook authors like Bette Hagman and Carol Fenster have moved on from these somewhat nutritionally deficient flours to experiment with sorghum, bean flours, montina flours, and all kinds of nutritious flours. I would expect a nutritious gluten free vegetarian cookbook to be up on all the latest and healthiest flours. Many of Donna's recipes contain the caveat: best slightly warm, or must be served immediately, because they are made from the rice flours which dry out more quickly than the newer flour blends. While some may appreciate the simple ingredients, there are far better flour alternatives out there which are only barely touched on in this book. (The exception is one chickpea flour bread.) This cookbook clearly reflects Donna Klein's rich expertise in Mediterranean food, with some forays into other international cuisines familiar to most Americans today. It does not comprehensively cover gluten free Asian foods of China, Japan, or India. As one reader mentioned, she was surprised at the heavy reliance on dairy products for an audience which is often, at least in the early stages of diagnosis, lactose intolerant. I do think that vegan techniques could be applied to gluten free cooking much more frequently than they are applied here. I also found it a little surprising that in the entire cookbook of over 225 recipes, there are only three recipes for tofu. This is great for the gluten free vegetarian who is soy intolerant- but many of us gluten free vegetarians can tolerate soy, so this was a minor disappointment to me. I'm pleased to have this cookbook in my collection and I do think I will use it. It is probably the closest to my personal cooking style offered on the market today, and an excellent resource for the new gluten free vegetarian. I would definitely recommend this cookbook for the soy intolerant, dairy tolerant vegetarian Gluten free reader who would like a large collection of simple gluten free, vegetarian recipes.

*I would note that a few of the ingredients listed as "may containing gluten" such as low fat dairy products, dry roasted (unseasoned) nuts, modified food starch and maltodextrin are not, in my experience, that likely to contain gluten. In particular recent US law requires that wheat be labeled, so if your modified food starch or maltodextrin contains wheat, it absolutely must be noted on the label. Also, unlike most gluten free cookbooks, Danna Klein doesn't give us any personal anecdotes or explanation for her publication of a gluten free cookbook. It would be nice to get a feel for the author's personal experience with and perspective on the gluten free lifestyle.

This is a wonderful book that is for everyone. It makes you really think about your health and maximizing your life. Read it!

This book was an easy read, with plenty of good citations from scientific studies backing up the theory, but not a lot of practical, specific how-to. It felt a little light-weight, and is probably not the greatest guide for beginners on the living foods path. Still, a useful and interesting read.

My Natural Medicine practice specializes in the recognition and utilization of diet, nutritional supplements, acupuncture and detoxification. One of most patient's problems is understanding what to eat and when. This book COMPLETELY describes the types of food and why and how to eat them. Cancer, depression and autoimmune disease (to name only a few) like rheumatoid arthritis are the end result of chronic exposure to environmental toxins like solvents and pesticides AND chronic nutritional deficiencies from eating fast food and junk food. This is the most important book you can buy to teach you how simple it is to regain your health AND prevent chronic illness like cancer.This book forms the basis of how we should eat AND understand the life-saving principle of intestinal and liver detoxification. Read, learn, and live a healthy life!

This is one of the few books out there which teaches you how to take charge of your health in a very simple approach. No matter if you need to loose weight, want to save money in the kitchen or have more serious health problems such as cancer or chronic fatigue; Ann Wigmore gives you a clear picture how to get started.
Basically it's all about enzymes which metabolize your food and which are needed for every function in your body. Without enzymes there would be no life in your body. Where do you find these enzymes? They are avaiable by eating fesh organic fruits, vegetables, sprouts and nuts/seeds.
After 20 years of trying diffrent approaches to become healthier, this is the most significant one I've taken. It really makes a difference. Do you ever feel tired or bloated after a meal? Try her recipes and you will feel light and energized afterwards. I can really recommend this book to everyone who wants to be healthier, happier and more loving.

This book spells out easily and completely the way to take charge and improve your health now. If you never start, you will not begin to reverse the years of food, chemical, and environment poisoning that your body has become accustomed to leading to the onset of the major diseases and ill health conditions that his generation is experiencing in proportions never before known.

In conjunction with other Wheatgrass and Ann Wigmore books, I feel better without medicine or pharmaceuticals of any kind in only a few short weeks. I lost 15 pounds the first two weeks without strenuous dieting. My craving for sweets has disappeared without any thought or struggle. Understanding these simple practices of biology is made easy through these books fromthe Hippocrates Institute.

I had a hard time finding a book for diabetics going vegetarian or vegan. I found this one, thinking it was going to be mostly recipes and all, and was happy to see it covers a very wide range of topics. Three chapters convinced me this was the book to get: the diabetic vegetarian, losing weight the vegetarian way, and the vegetarian athlete, all applicable to my new lifestyle change. It also convinced me that I want to go vegan, which I never thought would happen. Milk is baby food after all for us mammal types! So give this book a try, has delicious recipes included, and vegan alternatives on menu plans for diabetics.

This was one of the first books I read when I decided to follow a vegan diet, and a year and a half later, I am glad that I found it so soon. Though it also contains stuff about other issues and problems that many vegetarians encounter, the main value of this book lies in the nutritional information it contains. The book goes through what vitamins and minerals are needed, why they are needed, where to find them in vegetarian foods, and what studies have shown about vegetarians and their relations to these nutrients. There are larger chapters discussing protein and calcium, which are the primary concerns that people who don't know much about vegetarianism seem to have. Messina is a registered dietician and cites her references carefully. She tries not to make any unfounded claims, though she cites correlational studies whose conclusions are more unclear than she makes them seem. For the most part, the information is very much consistent with current knowledge of nutritional science, and if you are a new vegetarian who is unsure of where to start, this book will prove to be extremely useful in understanding why other people become vegetarians, how such a diet affects certain illnesses, how to address the special needs of infants, children, teenagers, pregnant women, athletes, and how to start planning and preparing vegetarian meals. Of course, it's a big change to alter your dietary habits, so you want to read many other books as well. And cookbooks will no doubt be helpful. But you can't go wrong starting with The Vegetarian Way.

You don't have to be a vegetarian to take advantage of this book. I am a non-vegetarian with a 1 1/2-year-old daughter who does not like meat. I was very worried that she would not get enough protein and iron so I purchased this book to educate myself more about non-animal sources of the nutrients. What an eye-opener! Even the nutrition courses I took in college did not provide me with such wealth of information. This book will tell you all you need to know to feed yourself and your family healthily and nutritiously. Interestingly, it will also change the way you look at the food on your plate. I'll be delighted if my daughter will one day happily eat red meat (organic of course). But I no longer worry that she doesn't.

This is a book for those who want to know more about the nutrition of being a vegetarian or those who need some reinforcement. I have not read such a well written book on this topic. I think that everyone whether vegan, vegetarian or omnivore should read this book.

I would like to echo the positive remarks that other readers have made. The nutrition information alone is a must-read for anyone considering becoming vegetarian or anyone who is concerned about the diets of their loved ones.

I was very pleased by the overall honest tone of the book. The authors were never "preachy" and were willing to admit that some claims in the book were not yet fully substantiated. The result is a book that is very balanced and convincing. Bravo!